Led by a strong
defense and some clutch hitting, the Precision Healthcare Angels beat the
Chimney Cricket Nationals tonight 9-6 in the 1st round of the 2007
Continental League playoffs.

The Angels jumped out
to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Chris Aman doubled to left field and
then hits by Jack Brinker, Jack McCarthy and a double by PJ Barker led to
the two runs. Aman finished the game with 3 doubles.

The Nationals stormed
back in the 4th inning with 3 runs of their own after getting 8 consecutive
batters on-base.

For the Angels, the
key offensive plays came in the bottom of the 4th inning. After a lead-off
double by Declan Buttimer and consecutive hits by Joe Conroy, Christopher
Dirienzi, Jeffrey Lunger and John Curran, the Angels scored one run and
had the bases were loaded with two outs. Matty Brennan came up and drilled
a ball past the shortstop into leftfield. The bases were cleared as 3 runs
scored and Brennan ended up at 2nd base. At this point, the Angels took a
7-3 lead.

Thanks to some strong
defensive play by Jack McCarthy, the Angels managed to close out the game.
Jack McCarthy turned in a stellar performance in the field for the Angels as
he caught 3 pop-outs at first base over the last two innings of the game and
also contributed on a couple of other outs earlier in the contest.